Muhammad Ali Dies At 74 After Long Battle With Parkinson’s Disease

Muhammad Ali, the renowned World Heavyweight Champion boxer, died at 74 on Friday in Arizona.

Muhammad Ali, Boxing Legend, Dead At Age 74

Ali had reportedly been at HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, since Thursday, after suffering from a respiratory issue.

“After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening,” family spokesman Bob Gunnell announced in a statement. “The Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time.”

Ali’s daughter Hana Ali took to Twitter to express her love for her father.

“Our father was a “Humble Mountain!” And now he has gone home to God. God bless you daddy. YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!” she tweeted.

John Ramsey, a close friend of Ali, who works for WAVE in Louisville, was at the hospital with Ali’s family when the boxer died.

“When he came into the hospital, we thought, ‘OK, it will be a brief stay’… I think it took a turn for the worse,” Ramsey told CNN. “But it was unexpected.”

Ramsey said Ali’s wife, Lonnie, called him Friday morning saying Ali’s health was deteriorating.

“She said ‘You might want to come out,’ which I decided to do,” Ramsey recalled. But by the time he arrived, “it had become a time for family and family only and I respected that.”

“Last night was really for family,” he said.

Ali went on to win the heavyweight title twice more before retiring from boxing in 1981, and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984.

Ali was hospitalized in December 2014 with pneumonia and again in January 2015 with a urinary tract infection.

Funeral services will be held in Louisville, Gunnell said.